Used Roadster shopping

As custom ordered new Roadsters are no longer being offered for sale in USA, people are starting to look harder at used ones as they become available.

A few people contacted me asking if I could give advice, but I don't have a whole lot to say about it.

You can watch eBay and Craigslist and sometimes find them there.
You can just Google for Tesla and sometimes find that someone traded one it at a car dealership which then offers it for sale.
I have no idea if the sales reps at the Tesla stores will be helping to locate used Roadsters or not.

In terms of what Roadster someone might want...
I think generally newer is better as "improvements" were made during production.
Also, the battery packs slowly age even if not used, so a newer pack is generally better.
The later years had among other things:

More comfortable seats.

More sound proofing (quieter ride).

Better dashboard (kWh gauge instead of pointless tachometer.)

A small glove box was added and the dashboard was more covered in leather.

Double DIN radio for better GPS/Nav option.

Optional carbon fiber accents.

Optional black wheels.

2010 got rid of the "stick shift" gear selector and put buttons in the center. The VDS screen also moved from the left knee position to the center in front of the shift buttons.

Also, the 2.x models could be ordered as a "Sport" with 0-60 in 3.7 (instead of 3.9), adjustable suspension, (in some cases) performance tires, and such. I would say that the Sport variant would carry a premium over the non-sport.

There are various options that could be added the car that would affect resale value. I won't try to list them all or project what they might be worth, but a few majors ones would be:

Hard top

HPC (high power home charging station)

UMC (Universal Mobile Charger)

MC240 (precursor to the UMC)

Note, among the first Roadsters made were the "Signature 100" series. These may have special plaques (between the seats) with signatures of the team that worked on the Roadster, and in some cases the original buyers name.
Also, they offered a special color "Signature Green" which wasn't made available anymore after the first 100.

the shape of the 1.5 models look (essentially? completely?) the same on the outside as the 2.0 but the interior differences are easily seen (and described by TEG in the above posting.)

in addition to the 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 models, there is sometimes reference to a 2.25 model which i found confusing. here is a quote from a tesla sales person about what that meant for a particular car that tesla has listed for sale as a 2.25:

"So Roadster 8XX which is the 2.25 is really a Roadster 2.0 with the 2.5 front and rear bumpers. It doesn’t have the interior upgrades like the better nav, stereo, seats and sound deadening."

in terms of quantifying the impact of two major upgrades i found desirable: the sound deadening package can be added to earlier cars for around $3K and the adjustable suspension (comprised of adjustable shocks, adjustable sway bars and different springs) can be retrofitted for around $6K.

the cost of the HPC charger is around $2K. you can see the various charging options and adapters here:

Thanks for all this information. What are reasonable used prices currently for the 1.5/2.0/2.5 and 2.5 Sport versions? How much does low vs. high mileage ie <2000 mi
vs. 8-15K mi or more affect the value?

Thanks for all this information. What are reasonable used prices currently for the 1.5/2.0/2.5 and 2.5 Sport versions? How much does low vs. high mileage ie <2000 mi
vs. 8-15K mi or more affect the value?

Click to expand...

I was looking at 2.0 sport models - base $90k then add/subtract for mileage, options, etc. A very lightly used roadster may have been in the shop a lot so beware! The battery is supposed to last 100k miles and about $12k to replace
so you can deduct accordingly.

As the new owner you pay for a current annual service, and the owner pays for any repairs that they find during the service. If the seller backs out he pays for the service also. If the car is under warrenty then most of what they find would be covered anyway, if out of warrenty then this could be important.

Both... Whichever comes first... (Just like the way ICE car drive-train warranties tend to have a max time or distance. e.g., those things like 5 years / 50K miles... )
As well as temp, charging habits, etc.

If you want to know more about how long the Roadster batteries will last and the factors that matter, please read this thread and provide data.new thread about battery capacity over time
So far I only have data from a handful of Roadsters and there isnt enough information to make any conclusions.

I spoke with people at the Tesla dealer in LA and they said they did three 2.0-2.25 conversions. It was apparently a PITA so they don't really do them anymore. I recently asked for a quote and I just found out the parts are about $3K for the front + $550 for the rear diffuser, though I have seen some rear diffusers (used) on eBay for $250 or so. And then there is the labor. And all of this assumes the parts are available, which they may not be. Finally, as has been written, you still don't have all of the 2.5 sound deadening and other niceties.

True, but, potentially the replacements can be better than the original, which would make a used Roadster with a new pack better than new. If you can get a new Roadster pack with the new 3.4ah cells that are going into the S you could have longer range or a lighter pack, or a little of both. If you can hold on for the 4ah cells even better.